Dreamtime martial art helps youth grapple with modern life

Julie Power

Inspired by the movements of the big red kangaroo, the two Coreeda rivals danced around each other, sparring with their hands and feet for a minute before the attacker tried to eject the incumbent from his territory.

Coreeda is a modern interpretation of what could be the oldest sport in the world. Aboriginal wrestling was depicted 30,000 years ago on cave walls at the Mount Grenfell Historic Site outside Cobar. While UNESCO has recognised the sport as part of Australia's intangible cultural heritage, it hasn't received any official recognition or continuous funding in Australia, said Coreeda Association secretary Gavin Dickson.

He has been teaching the once-extinct sport to youths in Mount Druitt since 1998. Mr Dickson said the sport connected Aboriginal youth with their ancestors, who had been ''wise enough to know a sport like this was transformative''.

As with many martial arts, it allows young men and women to vent aggression and anger in a constructive manner. In ancient times it was used to keep the peace between tribes without bloodshed and death. ''If they don't, it comes out in destructive ways,'' said Mr Dickson, who supports Coreeda with a job teaching at the medical school at the University of Western Sydney.

The martial art is said to come from a dreamtime. Legend has it that when old man lizard was worrying about the number of men killing each other, a giant snake appeared from a watering hole and told him to watch the red kangaroos, who fight without killing each other.

Commonwealth Games freestyle Greco-Roman wrestler Shane Parker said Coreeda rescued him from a troubled family home, full of drinking, fighting and 12 siblings. Until he started Coreeda nearly 15 years ago, he'd always been in trouble at school.

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''I was fortunate enough to start Coreeda, and I fell in love with it,'' said Mr Parker, 25 of Blacktown, who demonstrated the sport during NAIDOC week.

As well as Coreeda, Mr Parker participates in professional martial arts competitions and represented Australia in the Delhi Commonwealth Games in wrestling, coming fifth in a field of 50. He now hopes to compete in the next Olympics if wrestling is saved from threats to remove the sport.

Nearly every other boy Mr Parker knew dropped out of school. ''If I didn't find wrestling, I don't think I would have finished year 12,'' he said. ''Nearly all my friends dropped out.''

When Mr Dickson first started teaching Coreeda in Mount Druitt, teachers would ask him for his secret. ''I was getting contacted by teachers at public schools, who'd seen significant change in children's behaviour, from the naughtiest children in school to better behaved.''

He said most of the boys (and a few girls) who did the sport were Koori. ''It's a proud display of Aboriginal heritage. It counteracts negativity and gives them an element of pride in their identity.''

To avoid extinction, the sport needs more funding. Mr Dickson said it struggled to find continuous funding, partly because it was a ''mongrel sport,'' a mix of dancing and martial arts that was difficult to categorise.